The Nakba of May 15, 1948, is remembered again today, on the 221st day of Israel's genocide in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, Hamas operation.
Nakba or 'the catastrophe' is the black mark in the Palestinian history of colonization by the Zionists, supported by allies of the Western powers, leading to the annexation of lands, expulsion of 800,000 Palestinians and razing of 500 villages.
By the end of 1948, 78 per cent of the total land area of the former Mandatory Palestine was controlled by Israel and at least thousands of Palestinian Arabs had been killed.
The world received the news, though not in real time, but was known by the United Nations (UN).
From 1947 till 1949, over 80 per cent of Palestinians were expelled and approximately 80 per cent of Palestinian land was seized by Zionists.
The vivid photos in documents recording the massive displacement of Palestinians are now repeated, but in a much more brutal Israeli military operation.
The Israeli assault in 2023 and continuing to 2024 is now called genocide, the mother of all crimes. The ferocity of the Zionist aggression is multifold, using state-of-the-art weapons of mass massacre from the land, sea and air.
The slaying of women and children is unprecedented. More than 15,000 children and 10,000 women were killed and the body count is still rising.
Almost 1.7 million people have been displaced. Even worse, they have been cut off from life-supporting needs: food, water and medicine. Famine is weaponized for a slow death in Gaza. There are no safety zones now in Gaza.
Nakba 1948 was the outcome of a deliberate plan backed by strong Western powers, especially Britain and the United States.
The catastrophe was a build up of a series of aggressions by armed Jews. It all began with the launching of the Zionist movement in 1897.
The founder of the World Zionist Organization, Theodor Herzl, published the "Der Judenstaat" calling for the creation of a Jewish state.
The Zionist British Cabinet member, Herbert Samuel then wrote "The Future of Palestine - A Secret Memorandum" calling on his Cabinet colleagues to support Zionist settlement in Palestine.
Then came the 1917 Belfour Declaration. Britain promises a "Jewish National Home in an Arab Land, Palestine, described as "a land without people for a people without land ".
This was approved by the League of Nations. The plan, however, was not without resistance. The Al Buraq uprising took place as the first mass protest against increased immigration of Jews to Palestine.
Revolutionary Palestinian leader, Izzadin Al Qassam, was killed by British forces. The situation escalated when Irgun militia bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, killing 91.
The UN passed the 181 Resolution as a partition plan, though rejected by Palestinians. Later, 20 people were killed when the armed Zionist group, Haganah, bombed the Semiramis hotel in Jerusalem.
The attacks continued when Zionist forces attacked the village of Qisarya near Haifa, an early example of ethnic cleansing. The notorious Stern Gang and Irgun forces massacred the Palestinians in the village of Deir Yassin near Jeruselem.
As the state of Israel was created, sparking regional conflict, the US recognized Israel.
In reality, Nakba has never ended. The catastrophe has worsened for the last 75 years.
Though the Palestinian struggle for freedom, reclaiming their stolen land and demanding the right of self-determination are legitimate, yet the UN has failed miserably to enforce the international law against Israel, the most notorious violator of all human rights principles.
The indescribable human carnage in Gaza is an extended Nakba of 1948. Israel is fully shielded by the US and its allies.
Far too many abuses of the veto power was demonstrated by the US, Israel's biggest supporter, in objecting to every resolution in the UN Security Council on Israel.
It is worth restating once more that the Nakba happened with no accountability since the Zionist state was established. Those killed were denied justice. The same is now repeated in Gaza.
The world is witnessing, this time in real time what Nakba really means.
Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid
President
Malaysian Consultative Council for Islamic Organization